As Hurricane Erin pelted North Carolina’s barrier islands with strong winds and waves this week, it destroyed many nests of threatened sea turtle, burying the eggs deep in sand or washing them out to sea.

Hurricane Erin is moving away from the U.S. coast. Surf and seas remain a problem for our North Carolina beaches as summer vacations continue.

As Hurricane Erin churned off the North Carolina coast this week, its powerful waves destroyed most of the remaining sea turtle nests on Emerald Isle, dealing a blow to what had been shaping up as a successful nesting season.

Hurricane Erin is entering the first stages of a post-tropical transition as it continues to move away from the eastern coast of the United States.